BY: COLLEEN LINDBERG
I’m not sure if you’ve heard this term before. “Be your best self.”
Some of us have and some of us haven’t, and some of us aren’t even sure what that really means.
Exploring yourself and figuring yourself out is one of the key pieces in order to continue moving forward in life. This really means owning the skill set that you have, the talents you were born with and for you to be able to take yourself into the next chapter of your life.
But first, you need to discover who you really are and what the best self of you looks like. I was just recently on Matthew Hussey’s retreat program that was happening in Ft. Lauderdale and he had us write out our identity statements. This means “Who is it that you want to be in the next chapter of your life? What characteristics, values does that person represent? Who is that woman or man and what do they want to accomplish?” That could include values like integrity, honesty, confidence, any type of values you could have in that identity statement. It could be things that you want to make sure that you accomplish. It could be stuff that you want to recognize or make sure that you talk to yourself about them every day.
An identity statement should be read every day, to be kept as a foundation piece. It’s almost an affirmation of the things that you are creating. My identity statement talks about how I will live with love and light every day. How my laughter will fill up a room and how I will spread laughter on a daily basis. It also says that I will not make any excuses and will take responsibility for my life and for driving my goals forward. It talks about having a love connection, it talks about being of integrity and charisma and from a loving space, integrating conversations in my community.
So, all of those things can come out in what we call our best selves, so who do you represent? A really cool thing is getting a list of values put together, or looking online for different values and figuring out the top five of those that represent your next chapter in your life and who you are looking to be, at who you already are and looking to enhance. And from that standpoint integrating and making sure you are standing locked into those values on an everyday basis and making sure you’re honoring that energy for yourself which will be a key important piece. Another thing to consider is, what are the goals you need to set in any avenue of your life in order to get you closer to your best self? Have you ever heard of rituals before? Rituals are the consistent action that you take on a daily basis to move things forward, align yourself with a certain energy or create. They vary in form and are usually done on a consistent basis at certain times of the day. I highly suggest integrating some into your practice.
Here is to our best selves!
